Houston Roundball Review Archive: February 2007 Mavs Beat Rockets 80 to 77

Thursday, February 15, 2007

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- Twenty combined assists.

Twenty combined missed free throws.

Eighty-three combined missed field goal attempts.

Those are a few of the numbers in tonight's three point loss by the Houston Rockets to the Dallas Mavericks, 80 to 77.

The Rockets began the game slowly and trailed Dallas 21 to 14 with 3:03 left in the first quarter.

However, as the fans began to arrive to their seats, the Rockets' offense started to awaken from their slumber.

Juwan Howard scored four points during a 9 to 0 run by the Rockets to finish the quarter with a 23 to 21 lead over the Mavs.

With Mavs' forward Dirk Nowitzki on the bench with two fouls, Houston began to stretch its lead in the second quarter.

Shane Battier scored eight points during the period and the Rockets outscored Dallas 22 to 17 in the second quarter to lead 25 to 38 at halftime.

As in the two games in Dallas versus the Mavs this season, the Rockets' third quarter woes against the Mavs reared up once again.

Dallas outscored the Rockets 20 to 12 as Houston shot a miserable 3 for 13 (23.1%) in the period.

Jerry Stackhouse scored seven points for the Mavs in the third period.

The Rockets trailed 58 to 57 heading into the fourth period.

Stackhouse began the fourth period with two made free throws; but, McGrady made a jump shot and two free throws followed by a fast break dunk from Juwan Howard to give the Rockets a 63 to 60 lead with 10:33 left in the fourth period.

The Rockets maintained a lead the next three minutes before Nowitzki splashed in two consecutive three point shots from the top of the key to put Dallas ahead 72 to 69 with 6:23 left in the period.

McGrady quickly tied the game with a three-pointer; and, the game finally became exciting.

The Mavs missed two straight shots; McGrady missed a three; but, Stackhouse made two free throws to put the Rockets behind 74 to 72.

McGrady split two free throws; but, he put the Rockets ahead 76 to 74 with a three-pointer at the 3:17 mark.

After a turnover by Josh Howard, Battier split two free throws which gave the Rockets a three point lead, 77 to 74 with 3:02 left in the fourth period.

Mavs' guard Jason Terry hit two free throws.

Then, Terry put the Mavs ahead with a wide-open 15-foot jump shot following a blow defensive assignment by the Rockets against the Mavs' pick-and-roll.

Terry missed a three-point shot with 35.9 seconds left; but, with no times-out left, Houston's offense bogged down.

Luther Head missed a three-point shot; then, Head missed a 12-foot bank shot with Terry rebounded.

Terry was fouled; and, with, 4.2 seconds left, he made both free throws to give the Mavs an 80 to 77 lead.

The Rockets didn't get a shot off at the end of the game.

Dallas double-teamed McGrady and the Rockets failed to score during final three minutes.

Tracy McGrady registered 27 points and 10 rebounds tonight, marking his eighth double-double of the season.

McGrady also had 28 points and 12 assists vs. Sacramento (2/13/07), which gives McGrady his first consecutive double-doubles since Nov. (11/22/06-11/25/06).

Josh Howard had 15 points and 11 rebounds tonight, marking his ninth double-digit rebounding game of the season.

Houston had a season-low nine assists tonight, surpassing the previous low of 10 vs. the L.A. Clippers (12/23/06).

Defensively, the Rockets held the Mavericks to just 11 assists, equaling Houston's opponent low of 11 set by the Warriors vs. Golden State (12/5/06).

Jeff Van Gundy after the game: "...finish our defense better..."

Shane Battier: "...low energy on both team's part..."

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